Improvements to public spaces in two Leicester neighbourhoods will be carried out thanks to a £5million investment over the next three years. Preparatory work is already well underway on an £850,000 scheme at Ottawa Road in St Matthews, to improve communal areas and boost safety. Proposals are now being drawn up to extend similar improvements in other parts of St Matthews and St Peters, including improvements in areas such as open space, road safety and the environment. The plans follow long-term work with the neighbourhood housing team, ward councillors and the local tenants’ and residents’ associations to identify the problems they most want to see being addressed, such as fly-tipping, shortage of parking and safety issues. They follow a commitment by City Mayor Peter Soulsby back in 2019 to invest in improving the two estates, by taking into account local issues ranging from overgrown plants to maintenance and cleansing issues to help make public areas safer and more user-friendly. The £5million budget would allow improvements to be made in St Matthews and St Peter’s by 2024. The scheme at Ottawa Road and the corner of Edmonton Road in St Matthews will involve removing old brick garages and bin stores and replacing them with new parking bays, new street lighting and railings. Landscaping in communal areas is also planned to help improve the overall appearance. The proposals for both St Peters and St Matthews are still at an early concept stage, and consultation with residents will form a key part of the process to ensure the measures help address local issues. Preliminary designs are due to be drawn up over the coming months. Leicester assistant city mayor for housing, Cllr Elly Cutkelvin, said: “This work represents a significant investment over the next few years to make real improvements in St Matthews and St Peters, to meet the needs for people living there and improve the areas for everyone who uses them. “It is vital that the whole communities are involved in this decision-making process, to ensure what we are doing addresses the issues which are important to them. “We must also balance the needs for any parking and road improvements with our environmental commitments to create neighbourhoods where people feel safe to walk and cycle, and where they can access and enjoy open green spaces. “We are working with architects in order to bring forward initial designs for St Matthews and St Peters, so that we can progress with this work to benefit both neighbourhoods.” Leicester City Council News - Published on Thursday, January 6, 2022

PCC Rupert Matthews is seeking your views on the amount of police funding raised through the local council tax. “It is vital I set a budget to give Leicestershire Police the resources they need.” As Police and Crime Commissioner for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland I am determined to provide an efficient and effective police service to you, the public. That means that I am responsible for setting the annual budget for Leicestershire Police so that the Chief Constable has adequate resources in order to meet the demands and expectations of the public. I also determine the local policing priorities by listening to what local residents tell me. As part of my Police and Crime Plan consultation I asked how important the following were to you: To have more visible policing To invest in the best technology for our police Community policing More support for victims of crime More robust urban and rural policing Protection from crime To work with key community stakeholders to reduce crime More co-operation between the police, local authorities and other agencies. The majority of the respondents to the consultation prioritised visible policing and community policing as being particularly important. I also asked for any other comments comments from respondents which led to some strong key themes were identified including: Wanting to see a stronger police presence Wanting to see Violence Against Women and Girls to be more of a priority Drugs are an issue Wanting to see more victim support Wanting to see focus on preventing crime rather than reacting to crime Wanting to see more rural policing The priorities in the Police and Crime Plan reflect what local people tell me are important, which is why I want to hear from you through this survey about changes to the budget. In 2021/22, the budget for Leicestershire Police was made up of 58% from Government grant funding and 42% from local residents through council taxation (known as precept). Like all public services, Leicestershire Police is facing rising costs from inflation, increase in demand and the increasing complexity of crimes. This means that next year an increase in the precept will be needed just for Leicestershire Police to maintain its current position and meet the costs of pay and price increases. It is vital that I set a budget that will give Leicestershire Police the resources they need to implement the Police and Crime Plan which was written in consultation with you, the public. I want to ensure that the residents of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland are listened to and those matters which are considered important to you are reflected in the way we police in the future. The Government has said that Police and Crime Commissioners can raise the precept by up to £10 a year for a band D home; that’s a rise of just over 19p a week. (See table below for equivalent rise in Council tax for each council tax band.) The decision to raise council tax is one that I do not take lightly. However, if we are to maintain the current level of service the precept will need to increase and if I am to implement improvements that you, the public, have asked for then the precept will need to rise further. I want to hear from you so that I can make an informed decision. Click below to take part in the survey. https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6689672/Budget-Survey-2022-2023

The next phase of a rolling programme to repair and improve pavements, street furniture and bollards along Narborough Road is due to get underway this weekend. Leicester City Council is carrying out the scheme to spruce up public areas for local businesses and residents, and will involve replacing broken slabs with concrete blocks, improved drainage, repairs to pavement damage caused by tree roots and installing new bollards, as well as new cycle racks where possible to prevent vehicles parking on the pavement. This latest section of work, costing £130,000, is due to begin on Sunday, January 9, and will take eight weeks. It will concentrate on improvements to the city-bound section of Narborough Road from its junction with Saxon Street and its junction with Hinckley Road. Some waiting restrictions will be in place where work is taking place, and some parking bays in nearby Celt Street will be used for equipment vehicles. Letters have been sent to local residents and businesses informing them of the work. Previous stages of the work took place in 2020 and 2021. They included a £98,000 investment on pavement improvements on the stretch of Narborough Road from Shaftesbury Road to just after the junction with Saxon Street; £175,000 on a phase covering the areas from Roman Street to Briton Street outbound, and also from Westcotes Drive to Shaftesbury Road inbound. The first phase of works in March 2020 saw £145,000 spent on repairs in the area between Narborough Road's junctions with Upperton Road and Equity Road. Leicester deputy city mayor and Westcotes ward councillor, Sarah Russell, said: “These repairs and improvements have really made a big difference to the appearance of Narborough Road, and will benefit everyone using it. “Business in this area, many of which are small, independent firms, have suffered from the ongoing disruption of Covid-19, so we’ve been careful to phase the work in such a way that it doesn’t cause more problems and also helps support them by making the area more attractive.” The work is being funded through Leicester City Council's highway maintenance capital fund. Leicester City Council News - Published on Wednesday, January 5, 2022

As the county council steps up its plans to increase tree cover across Leicestershire, a call has gone out for more people to join the tree warden scheme. As an initiative to plant 700,000 trees across Leicestershire gets well underway, the county council is calling on more members of the public to help support the project by volunteering as tree wardens. There are currently over 87 tree wardens, representing 65 parish councils. They help to organise tree planting in their communities, as well as helping to monitor and care for trees. The initiative began 30 years ago, but as the county council steps up its plans to increase tree cover across Leicestershire, a call has gone out for more people to join the scheme – particularly in the areas of Harborough, Hinckley and villages such as East Goscote in Charnwood. Richard Ellison has been the tree warden for Wymeswold for six years and thoroughly enjoys his role, which has seen him organise tree planting in the village as well as setting up a woodland area supported by the county council. He has also organised a community orchard. He said: “Basically, the role involves getting yourself known in the community and people then come to you to ask any questions about trees in the parish. “I would recommend being a tree warden and getting involved in the tree network – a group of like-minded people always have strength. “I’d like to see more tree and hedge planting, this part of Leicestershire is poor when it comes to good quality hedges. Hedges stem from the 1700s and enclosures of land with hedges and trees in hedges were mainly Ash and Elm. Elm disappeared about 30 years ago and now Ash are dying because of Ash Dieback Disease, so there’s a real need for getting more trees planted to replace the Ash trees.” Bruce Durham has been a tree warden in Market Harborough for two years. He said: “Around a year ago we set up the Harborough Woodland Community Volunteer group, approved to recruit tree wardens in Market Harborough. We provide insurance and we organise training coordinated by Leicestershire County Council. “I would recommend others to get involved in the tree warden scheme - it’s one of our prime goals. If we can use the tree warden scheme to encourage schools and kids to get involved, then we are building responsible individuals of the future - they won’t break trees but really look after them.” You don’t need to be an expert to become a tree warden – training is given, along with a booklet explaining how to plant trees and how to look after them, as well as the rules and regulations to bear in mind when planting trees or cutting them down. "Our vision is for a greener Leicestershire; to plant a tree for every resident and to do all we can to protect and enhance Leicestershire’s trees and woodlands so that they will continue to benefit future generations. I would urge anyone interested in becoming a tree warden in their community, to sign up and help make a difference." Said Blake Pain, cabinet member for the environment and the green agenda For more information about the tree warden scheme and how it could benefit your parish/town council, contact your local tree warden coordinator at: EnvironmentTeam@leics.gov.uk Leicestershire is around 6% woodland, below the national average of 10%, although the creation of the National Forest over the last 20 years has meant that forest cover in the north west corner of Leicestershire has now increased to 22%. The authority currently manages around 321,000 trees, but its strategy and action plan, adopted in May 2020, will see that number dramatically increase over the next ten years as it carries out its pledge to help plant 700,000 more trees – one for every resident. Dutch Elm disease accounted for a reduction of more than half of all trees in the county between 1980 and 1998. The challenges presented by new diseases such as Ash Dieback will result in the further decline of native trees. Leicestershire County Council declared a Climate Emergency in May 2019. In December 2020 the council pledged a target to become a carbon neutral council by 2030 and to achieve ‘net zero’ across the county by 2045. Leicestershire Country Council News - Monday, 10 January, 2022

A Series of 10 new heritage panels have been installed to tell the stories behind key historic and cultural sites across the city. The colourful information panels have been installed to give residents and visitors to the city the chance to find out more about Leicester’s extensive history from Roman times, through the Middle Ages, to the manufacturing, engineering and transport the Victorian era and beyond. The panels are all part of the city council’s Story of Leicester project, which brings to life the city’s colourful 2,000-year history by remembering the people, places and events of Leicester’s recent and distant past. The latest additions include: Monk’s Rest Gardens, in Humberstone, outlining its connection to Leicester Abbey and Launde Abbey, along with stories of ancient tunnels linking various locations. St Mary’s Triangle, in Clarendon Park, including information about five nearby historic houses built by renowned architects including Ernest Gimson, Isaac Barradale and John Breedon Everard. Fish Markets and Leicester Market in the city centre, with a double panel at Dolphin Square telling the story of their development. The Blitz in Knighton Road, focusing on the hero William John Higgott who saved a number of people after a bombing raid in 1940. The development of the city centre’s fire stations is outlined in panels at Rutland Street and Bowling Green Street, which explore changing technology and the population changes which created a greater demand for better fire stations. Braunstone Gate Bridge, known as Bowstring Bridge, in Western Boulevard, which carried the Great Central Railway’s London to Sheffield line over the River Soar. A panel at the Pavilion in Western Park telling the story of the development of the New Parks estate and the changing role of the Pavilion. Red Hill Circle / Loughborough Road, including the history of the Talbot Pub where condemned men would have their last meal before being executed at the gallows at Red Hill. It also notes Red Hill Petrol Station, whose futuristic design has seen it designated as a protected building. The Magazine Gateway. The panel focuses on the development of the medieval Magazine gateway, the prisoners held within its walls and its use as an ammunition depot during the English Civil War, along with its use during the First World War as a recruiting station. So far 165 heritage panels have been installed throughout the city since 2014 as part of the Story of Leicester project. Leicester deputy city mayor for culture, leisure and sport, Cllr Piara Singh Clair, said: “The Story of Leicester heritage panels bring to life the city’s history in a colourful, easily-understandable way. “These latest panels continue that work, shedding light on the stories behind some well-known, and some less well-known locations across Leicester.” For more information visit https://www.storyofleicester.info/

Pop-up ‘mini-Holland’ could be made permanent as part of £1.5m Braunstone Gate improvement scheme A Pop-up scheme introduced to create more space for pedestrians and cyclists on a busy Leicester shopping street could be made permanent. Leicester City Council plans to invest up to £1.5million to make permanent a pop-up ‘mini-Holland’ scheme on Braunstone Gate, in the city’s West End. This will help create public space and give more priority to cycles and pedestrians by limiting vehicle access, closing the road to unnecessary traffic and creating wider pavement areas for visitors to the shops, bars and cafes in the area. Under the plans, access from Duns Lane and New Park Street into Braunstone Gate will be restricted to buses, taxis and cycles only, and the left turn from Western Boulevard into Braunstone Gate will also be closed to traffic, except cycles. Most on-street parking on Braunstone Gate will also be removed, with the extra space used to make pavements wider. Businesses will be able to apply for street cafe licenses and outside seating areas. Disabled parking bays will be retained. The measures were originally introduced on an experimental basis in the summer of 2020. Now, the city council is asking local residents and businesses for their comments on plans to make the changes permanent. Around 200 letters have been delivered to local businesses and people living in the area. Two drop-in information sessions will also be held for people to find out more about the plans. These will be held on Monday 17 January 2022 at Ninety-Six Degrees café, 42 Braunstone Gate, from 2pm-4pm and then at Metal Monocle bar, 59-61 Braunstone Gate, from 5pm-7pm. If given the go-ahead, the permanent scheme would see around £1.5million invested in improvements. The work will be supported through the Transforming Cities Fund, a major £80million citywide programme of investment in sustainable transport, backed by £40million of Government cash from the Department for Transport. The new, wider footpaths will be constructed in high-quality bock paving and the carriageway resurfaced in red asphalt. New trees will also be planted as part of the scheme. Work is planned to begin by early-summer and will be carried out in phases to minimise disruption. As part of its proposals, the council is also considering closing Braunstone Gate, between Bede Street and Western Road, to all traffic on Friday and Saturday nights to create a safer and more appealing area to support the night time economy. Permanent mini-Holland schemes have been installed in urban areas including the London borough of Walthamstow, leading to a huge increase in cycling and walking, and a 56 per cent drop in vehicle numbers. Deputy city mayor Cllr Adam Clarke, who leads on environment and transportation, said: “We know these plans present huge opportunities for Braunstone Gate as we’ve had similar measures in place on a temporary basis for over a year as part of our Covid transport recovery plan. By investing in making these improvements permanent, we can help make the area much more attractive and people-friendly. “We’ve seen the success of mini-Holland schemes elsewhere over the last few years and investing in a similar scheme here will help support local businesses with a more attractive trading environment, while also helping us meet our obligations to cut carbon and improve air quality. We want to help create a place where people feel confident to walk and cycle, but also somewhere that people want to go meet friends, have a meal or a drink and do a bit of shopping. “It is vital that we continue to provide healthier, greener streets to accommodate future growth of the city and its economy, all of which supports our commitments to address the climate emergency and to reduce air pollution. We need to be radical and ambitious to meet these challenges.” Deputy city mayor and Westcotes ward councillor Sarah Russell added: “Braunstone Gate is home to a vibrant and popular mix of cafes, bars, restaurants and shops and other independent small businesses. It is also a really busy and important route between De Montfort University and the West End. “These proposals represent a huge opportunity to get much needed investment into Braunstone Gate, to make it an even more attractive destination not just for the local community but for the whole city.” The Transforming Cities Fund is a major £80million citywide programme of investment in sustainable transport, backed by £40million of Government cash from the Department for Transport. The ambitious package of works will focus on major sustainable transport improvements to provide attractive choices for people to get to work, education, shops and other local facilities to help support the city’s growth and deliver on the council’s climate emergency, air quality and health living commitments. The programme includes the development of new bus priority corridors linking the city centre to local neighbourhoods and suburbs along with the continued development of a network of high-quality cycling and walking routes throughout the city, building on the success of the Connecting Leicester programme. To view the Braunstone Gate plans in more detail visit www.leicester.gov.uk/TransformingCitiesFund Leicester City Council News Published on Tuesday, January 11, 2022

People still have time to give Leicestershire County Council their views on its latest budget proposals. Residents, businesses, parish councils and other organisations can complete a survey on the council’s financial plans – including what may happen to council tax bills from April 1 and council spending priorities up to 2026. The consultation runs until midnight on Sunday January 16 and the survey, which takes about five minutes to complete, can be found here. The county council is facing increasing pressure to fund social care both for vulnerable children and adults as well as an ageing population in the county. While its proposals set out how a balanced budget can be achieved in the coming financial year, it has warned £100 million of savings will be needed by 2025/26. From April 1, it is proposed County Hall’s share of the council tax bill will increase by three per cent, including a one per cent levy to contribute to adult social care costs. This equates to a rise of £42.30 a year for a band D house - the lowest rise in recent years. The council also wants to hear views on its four-year capital plan which will see investment totalling more than £500 million in schools, new dementia care facilities, major road schemes, helping to plant 700,000 trees around the county and measures to reduce carbon emissions. “We are grateful for all the useful feedback we have received since we launched our budget consultation before Christmas. “There is still time for anyone who hasn’t yet shared their views with us to do so. “It’s really important to us to hear what people think because that is the way they can help shape the crucial decisions we will be making about how we use taxpayers’ money.” The council’s cabinet lead member for resources councillor Lee Breckon The consultation responses received will be considered by the county council’s cabinet when it meets next month and the budget proposals will be debated at the full council meeting on February 23. Find out more and have your say by visiting: https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/have-your-say/current-engagement/budget-proposals-2022-26

A busy shopping street and main gateway between Leicester city centre and the railway station is set for a revamp, with work due to begin later this week. Leicester City Council will begin work to pedestrianise and improve a stretch of Granby Street between its junctions with Northampton Street and the inner ring road at St George’s Way. The aim is to create a more welcoming gateway into the city centre and help make the busy route safer and more attractive for pedestrians and cyclists. The pedestrianised area will be reconstructed to create a level surface, finished in red asphalt and a continuation of the existing high-quality block paving. Automated bollards will be installed at the entry and exit points and changes will be made to the existing contraflow cycle lane between Dover Street and the inner ring road to improve the route for cyclists. Improvements are also planned for Northampton Street, where the existing footpaths will be widened and two new loading bays created, New tree planting and cycle parking are also planned, and the installation of a new docking station as part of the city’s Santander Cycles Leicester e-bike hire scheme. An earlier proposal to close the Dover Street junction with Granby Street will be amended following feedback from consultation carried out in spring 2021. Deputy city mayor Cllr Adam Clarke, who leads on environment and transportation, said: “This part of Granby Street is a major gateway into the city centre for people arriving in Leicester by train and is a busy shopping street in its own right. It links directly to the super crossing on St George’s Way and is an important route for anyone walking or cycling into the city centre. “These improvements will make the route more welcoming and safer for pedestrians and cyclists, while having minimal impact on motorists. It’s over a decade since the underpass that ran beneath the ring road was removed and now is a good time to revisit the area and improve it further.” Work is due to get underway from Monday 10 January and will take around seven months to complete. A partial road closure of Northampton Street, from Charles Street to Newport Place, will be required from Sunday 16 January for up to 11 weeks. Work will then move further along Northampton Street, from its junctions with Newport Place to Granby Street. Well-signed diversions will be in place. Work will move onto Granby Street from spring 2022. The scheme will cost around £900,000 and will be supported through the Getting Building Fund, a pot of government funding awarded to the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) for shovel-ready infrastructure projects to create jobs and support economic recovery. Kevin Harris is chair of the LLEP Board of Directors. He said: “Granby Street is an important gateway to Leicester city centre and often the first port of call for visitors to our city. These improvements will help prioritise visitors that make the journey via public transport and help us meet our ambitious targets for sustainable transport and carbon reduction. “These improvements to Leicester’s public realm will result in a better quality of life for Leicester’s residents, increased economic opportunity for local businesses and better links to the St George’s and Cultural Quarter areas, which are vibrant parts of the city centre and key to the local economy.” Granby Street also forms part of the new High Street Heritage Action Zone. The scheme will offer grant funding to support heritage-led improvements and repairs to historic properties in the area and help bring commercial units back into use. The scheme is due to launch this summer. For more information email LeicesterHAZ@leicester.gov.uk

Today (Monday 10 January) a national campaign has been launched by the City of London Police to warn people about romance fraud. The campaign urges family members to help protect their relatives from becoming a victim of romance fraud, as new national figures show almost £92 million has been lost through dating scams between November 2020 and October 2021. Daters who strike up online relationships between Christmas and Valentine’s Day tend to be the most susceptible to romance fraud, with a spike of 901 reports recorded by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) in March 2021. In Leicestershire between November 2020 and October 2021 130 reports of romance fraud were received by the force, with victims losing in excess of £900,000 through this scam. Figures also suggest that women between the age of 40 – 60 are more likely to fall victim to this fraud. Paul Wenlock from the force’s economic crime unit, said: “Criminals involved in these scams spend weeks gaining the victim’s trust, they will fabricate stories about their life and their identity. In the early stages there is no mention of money, so the victim may believe their love interest is genuine. “Over a number of weeks and months that relationship continues online or via telephone conversations at which point the criminals will ask for money. Typical excuses may include being ill, being in financial difficulty, lucrative investment opportunities and pretending to be military personnel or working overseas.” Criminals often use a range of stories to get victims to transfer them money without it raising suspicion. The stories are often believable, to a certain extent, and something that the victim would find hard to say no to, especially because of their emotional attachment. Paul Wenlock added: “We’re calling on family members who think their relatives may be dating online to help make them aware of the warning signs that they could be falling victim to fraud, particularly if the person dating online is not particularly tech savvy.” How to help protect people you know are online dating Help your friends and family to ensure they have adequate privacy settings on their social media accounts to ensure strangers don’t have access to their personal information. Stay in regular contact with your friends and family who are online dating to help spot any changes in behaviour or things that don’t seem right. Make friends and family aware of the signs of romance fraud so that they are conscious of the tactics criminals use to carry out these scams and reiterate that you should never transfer money to someone that you have never met in person. Encourage people to report to Action Fraud and the police if they have become a victim of romance fraud and not to be embarrassed about doing so. Anyone who is speaking to people they do not know or have not known for a long period of time is urged to follow the Take Five To Stop Fraud advice. Stop: Taking a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information could keep you safe. Challenge: Could it be fake? It’s okay to reject, refuse or ignore any requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you. Protect: If you think you’ve been a victim of fraud, contact your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud online at actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040. If you feel you have been the victim of a similar offence we would urge you to contact Action Fraud or report online at www.leics.police.uk

Our NHS is facing its worst ever crisis, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Here’s why we’re making these demands of the Government now. This is a national emergency. Government could invest properly in health but over the last decade and more, we’ve seen it doesn’t have the political will to do so. Instead it turns to private sector providers who have failed the NHS time and again, wasting tens of billions during the pandemic. We need change now. This will be the hardest winter ever in health and social care for a generation. We must act now to save staff morale, avoid a mental health crisis among health and care staff and safeguard services for patients and service users. There has also been a total failure of government during the pandemic. Public health measures have been undermined and far too many have been allowed to die, especially among vulnerable groups. 47,000 residents in care homes died during the pandemic, and six out of ten deaths overall have been disabled people. Government policies have led to growing levels of inequality which have exacerbated the crisis. 30% of those admitted to ITU with Covid-19 were of ‘non-white ethnicity’ despite making up only 14% of the population. The Health and Care Bill addresses none of these problems. It will not put an end to contracts going to the private sector, draining resources from the NHS. To save lives, we need emergency funds now to make up for an annual deficit of around £35bn. We must recruit and retain more frontline staff and pay them properly. In future we need a return to a fully publicly funded and provided national health service, protected from private companies who put profit before patients. OUR THREE DEMANDS: Approve emergency funding of £20 billion* to save lives this winter Invest in a fully publicly owned NHS & guarantee free healthcare for future generations Pay staff properly: without fair pay, staffing shortages will cost lives. For more https://sosnhs.org/ Join us Wednesday 19 January 7:00pm In 2010, after a decade of investment, our NHS was delivering its best-ever performance: After more than a decade of austerity – despite heroic efforts by staff to keep services afloat – it has sunk to its worst-ever. The problems were growing before the pandemic, but have been deepened by the sudden and continued loss of capacity and continued high level of Covid infections. But it doesn’t have to be this way, with the political will we can fully fund our NHS, end interference from the private sector, pay staff properly and once again secure an NHS able to keep us all safe. We'll be joined by speakers from Keep Our NHS Public, Health Campaigns Together, People’s Assembly Against Austerity, Unite the Union, GMB, We Own It, NHS Support Federation, NHS Workers Say No, NHS Staff Voices, Doctors in Unite, Doctors for the NHS, personalities, politicians and more, which we'll announce in the new year. Join the online rally here. https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_2fSCabGiTguoEtfOBi_s4g

In a joint operation, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire’s Rural Policing Teams have recovered £150,000 worth of assets from an area of land in Braybrooke Road, Desborough. On Friday 7 January, a cross-border operation saw officers from our Rural Policing Team join forces with Northamptonshire Police’s Rural Crime Team to attend the area as a result of information received that £90,000 worth of plant machinery, which had allegedly been fraudulently hired in Leicestershire, was being used on the site. Upon arrival, both pieces of plant machinery were recovered and whilst it was being retrieved, officers carried out further checks on the site and identified three caravans as being stolen, with a total value of about £60,000 and an Ifor Williams trailer which had been stolen from Wales. Officers contacted one of the victims of the stolen caravans and due to the circumstances of the theft, the insurance company had refused to pay out. The victim was therefore overjoyed as he had saved for years to purchase the caravan and had only had it a few months before its theft. Sergeant Paul Archer from Leicestershire’s Rural Policing Team, said: “This operation was a great example of cross border working which saw the recovery of a substantial amount of stolen property. The victim of the fraudulently hired equipment reported the issue to us and we took action and we’d continue to encourage everyone to report incidents to the police – if we don’t know about it we can’t help.” Sergeant Andy Maher from Northamptonshire Police’s Rural Crime Team, said: “This was an extremely successful operation and I am pleased that not only was the plant machinery recovered, but three stolen caravans were also discovered too. They will now be returned to their rightful owners. “It was great to execute this operation in partnership with our colleagues in Leicestershire and I hope it sends a message to criminals – it doesn’t matter where you commit your crimes because we will work together to thwart you.”

Traffic restrictions will be in place at a junction on a busy main road in Leicester from next week as part of a major highway improvement programme. Work will be carried out from Monday (10 Jan) on part of the A6 Abbey Lane at its busy junction with Abbey Park Road and Blackbird Road. Currently, the single lane right turn from Abbey Park Road onto Abbey Lane is a pinch point for buses and gets congested at peak times causing delays for all traffic. As part of the improvements being carried out, the junction will be reconfigured to allow traffic to turn right onto Abbey Lane from two of the three lanes at the junction of Abbey Park Road. This will involve remodelling the existing splitter islands and major realigning of the junction. At the same time the existing traffic signals will be fully upgraded and pedestrian crossings improved. Work will also be carried out to address delays at the junction of Abbey Lane and Exploration Drive and to improve access to Pioneer Park and the Asda supermarket. A longer right turn lane will be created for outbound traffic turning right into Exploration Drive from Abbey Lane. This will run from the junction of Byford Way to Exploration Drive. Existing pedestrian crossings in the immediate area will also be upgraded and footpaths widened to provide more space for pedestrians and cyclists. The work is expected to take up to six months to complete and will be carried out on a phased basis at off-peak times only, to minimise disruption to traffic. However, some lane restrictions will be required. Drivers are advised to consider using Anstey Lane or Melton Road/Belgrave Road as alternative routes to avoid potential delays. Up-to-date driver information will be displayed using mobile variable messaging signs as required. Short-term, overnight road closures will also be required in the summer for resurfacing works, and details will be publicised nearer the time. Deputy City Mayor Cllr Adam Clarke, who leads on environment and transportation, said: “It is vital that we continue to invest in encouraging more people to make the shift to cleaner, greener, healthier and more sustainable transport, not least because traffic is responsible for a quarter of our city’s carbon emissions. “Ensuring our bus services are reliable and have priority over general traffic on important routes is really important in encouraging more people onto buses. We know the introduction of new bus lanes on busy routes can have a major impact on bus patronage, with increases of up to 13 per cent. “Along with the expansion of the citywide network of safe routes for pedestrians and cyclists, investment in public transport will be vital to meeting our commitment to help further improving the city’s air quality and helping Leicester in its response to the climate emergency.” The junction improvements are closely linked to major revamp of Abbey Park Road, which will include the construction of a new bike-friendly footbridge across the River Soar. The £7.5million Abbey Park Road scheme – which will also see new bus lanes introduced and footpaths improved to create a safer and more attractive route for pedestrians and cyclists – is supported by the Transforming Cities Fund as part of an ambitious programme of investment in sustainable transport across the city. For more details visit www.leicester.gov.uk/TransformingCitiesFund